"To be honest, I think that as long as she doesn't have too much plot importance--which she shouldn't if she's a one and you're done job for Rodrigo--it's fine to add in a little fictional character. I'd rather her be a fictional person distantly connected to those of actual importance--the Gonzagas--than someone like Ursula. A fictional Gonzaga might make it easier to introduce the real Gonzagas to those who don't know the history.

I can't wait until they introduce Isabella d'Este, though. She was known to have a fierce rivalry with Lucrezia. (Not at all surprising, as Lucrezia did sleep with her husband...)

I do wonder sometimes how much screentime Lucrezia's life with her third husband will receive, as she did outlive the only other "notable" Borgias--Alexander and Cesare--by quite a bit of time. Her affairs with Bembo and Gonzaga were interesting, but Bradford lists them as being almost reactionary to her life falling apart (the loss of a child followed by Cesare's death) for a time, which would mean that by then she would be on her own.

As much as I adore her, I think that the show wouldn't be much if Lucrezia didn't have fellow Borgias to play off. And as the series has emphasized her relationship with Cesare as being--in my opinion--almost a subset to the actual family (I think that they care about one another far more than any other family members, particularly as they grow up) that it would be nice to end with that final relationship being severed by death.

I don't know. The family's so Shakespearean to me, I'm excited about what will happen as their future grows darker."